From floppy disks to the AI era: Garry Edwards on the industry's biggest shift yet

Welcome to Coffee.Press.Play., brought to you by The Business of Games Podcast, powered by Xsolla. Recorded live at GDC 2026 inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, this series puts a twist on the traditional interview format: guests play a round of a classic video game against our Xsolla host and the outcome determines whether they face an easy question or a hard one.In this episode, host Ed Lin sits down with Garry Edwards, Head of Business Development at Mindera — a global software services company helping game studios build back-end infrastructure, pipelines, and live ops without overloading their internal teams.Garry has been in the industry for more than 20 years, with stops at Electronic Arts, TT Games, and Warner Bros., where he spent nearly a decade running business development. He's seen the industry transform from floppy disks to streaming and cloud — and he makes the case that what's happening right now, the convergence of AI, consolidation, and a fractured mid-tier, is the biggest transitional shift the business has ever seen.What you'll hear:Why the current moment — AI, industry consolidation, and the shrinking mid-tier — is unlike anything Gary has seen in 20+ yearsHow Mindera helps studios of all sizes build infrastructure without expanding headcountWhy the democratization of game development shifted the challenge from creation to discoverabilityWhat Garry learned from his boss at EA about negotiating deals and leading without egoWhat it looks like to build an entirely new gaming vertical from the ground upLet's get into it.Coffee.Press.Play. is an ongoing mini-series, and more conversations with our GDC guests are on the way. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel.Missed us at GDC 2026? Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for announcements on where we'll be next. And catch up on recent episodes at xsolla.com/podcast.For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.